Are shoulder injuries due solely to improper stroke mechanics

I believe the reason Terry has great success in his swimmers not having shoulder issues is not just because they try to perform perfect technique. They are not doing volume so the only culprit according to his observations has to be technique and specifically in those swimmers not doing TI and doing high-volume. Perhaps that is too broad a brush with which to paint. I use TI and over the last 3 years have done as much as 55,000 yards/week at times in preparation for MIMS. No shoulder problems, although I have had some elbow tendonitis from using my arm as a shock absorber when doing open turns (obviously not TI-related). When I first learned to swim (age 39; non-TI) ,I did have shoulder problems and had several bouts of physiotherapy for same. I'm not saying that this disproves your assertion; nor am I saying that it proves that TI prevents shoulder injuries, but there are people who do TI and volume. (Including some people who have done the English Channel, etc.) -LBJ

I believe the reason Terry has great success in his swimmers not having shoulder issues is not just because they try to perform perfect technique. They are not doing volume so the only culprit according to his observations has to be technique and specifically in those swimmers not doing TI and doing high-volume. Perhaps that is too broad a brush with which to paint. I use TI and over the last 3 years have done as much as 55,000 yards/week at times in preparation for MIMS. No shoulder problems, although I have had some elbow tendonitis from using my arm as a shock absorber when doing open turns (obviously not TI-related). When I first learned to swim (age 39; non-TI) ,I did have shoulder problems and had several bouts of physiotherapy for same. I'm not saying that this disproves your assertion; nor am I saying that it proves that TI prevents shoulder injuries, but there are people who do TI and volume. (Including some people who have done the English Channel, etc.) -LBJ